Best of Show

Welcome to The Tropical Grower’s Best of Show Flower Photography. Some pictures just turn out better than others. It could be the lighting, visitor, or the flower itself. You’ll find each year’s Best of Show here. Enjoy!

2025

Gold Coins, Dendrobium Orchid
Splash Amaryllis
Honey & Sweat Bees visiting Purple Water Lily
Red Christmas Cactus
Pink Rain Lily
Pink Christmas Cactus
Yellow Water Lily
Poppy
Princess Flower
Plains Coreopsis
Lianher Black Pearl Phalaenopsis Orchid
Dragon Fruit Bloom
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly visiting Zinnia
Purple Water Lily
Little Gem Magnolia
Flaming Torch Bromeliad
Miniature Phalaenopsis Orchid
Bee Lifting off Glorious Daisy
Pale Yellow Dahlia
Sky Blue Dragon Fly
Double Lancaster Tiger Lily
White Hong Kong Orchid
Florida Blue Flag Iris
Butterfly visiting Zinnia
Florida Peach Tree Blossoms
Yellow Daylily
Tiger Neoregelia Bromeliads
White Dendrobium Orchid
Great Grandma’s Easter Lilies
Spin Top Indian Blanket Flower
White African Iris
Golden Dewdrop or Duranta
White Birds of Paradise
Orange Zinna
Purple Shamrock
Bougainvillea
Philippine Violet, Barleria Cristata
Crimson Bottlebrush
Buttercup
Purple Cosmos
Wild Monk Orchid, Oeceoclades Maculata
Golden Dewdrop or Duranta
Giant Crinum Lily or Spider Lily
Pumpkin
Jasmine
Pink Blooming Ginger, Curcuma
Pink Blooming Ginger, Curcuma
Princess Flower
White Blooming Ginger, Curcuma
Garden Bean
Purple Lelia Orchid
Red Lobster Claw Heliconia
Ground Orchid
Candlestick Plant, Senna Alata
Honey Bee visiting Purple Water Lily
Streamside Spider Lily
Giant Orange Zinnia
Dragon Fruit Bloom
Purple, Yellow & White Dahlia
Giant Elephant Ear Philodendron
Giant Yellow Hibiscus
Flaming Torch Bromeliads
Oyster Plant
Yellow Wild Cosmos
Storm worn Monarch Butterfly visiting the Lobster Claws
Black Beauty Crepe Myrtle
Red Lobster Claw Heliconia
Peace Lily
Black-eyed Susan
Purple Water Lily
Pink Rain Lily
Purple Zinnia
Leafcutter Bee visiting Glorious Daisy
Rhyncholaelia digbyana, formerly Brassavola Orchid
Dahlia
Orange Vanda Orchid
Mexican Heather
Plains Coreopsis
Lianher Black Pearl Phalaenopsis Orchid
Gold Coins, Dendrobium Orchid
Honey Bee visiting Pickerelweed
Purple Lilliput Zinnia
Double Lancaster Tiger Lily
Cool Breeze Phalaenopsis Orchid
Buttercup
Widow’s Tears
African Daisy
Bachelor Button
Ligustrum
Orange Marigold
Phlox
Frangipani, Plumeria
Pink Cosmos
Giant Yellow Hibiscus
Pole Bean
Pineapple
Orange Wild Cosmos
Miniature Phalaenopsis Orchid
Candy Cane Amaryllis
Fivespot, Nemophila maculata
Encyclia bractescens Orchid
Banana Pepper
Red Amaryllis
Chinese Forget-Me-Not
White African Iris
Candy Cane Amaryllis
Indian Blanket Flower
Purple Hong Kong Orchid
White Hong Kong Orchid
Red Amaryllis
Purple Queen
Amaryllis Picotee
Florida Blue Flag Iris
Yellow Walking Iris
Dendrobium Sonia Orchid
Purple Phalaenopsis Orchid
Key Lime Tree Blossom
Purple Shamrock
Pink Christmas Cactus
White African Iris
Red Christmas Cactus
Giant Sunflower
Philippine Violet, Barleria Cristata
Bee Friend visiting Bromeliads
Snake Plant, Mother-In-Law’s Tongue
Dwarf Yellow or Maui Ixora
Indian Blanket Flower
Japanese Lantern Hibiscus

2024

Laelia Orchid
Purple Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Ligustrum
Giant Sunflower
White Dendrobium Orchid
Philippine Violet, Barleria Cristata
Bougainvillea
Indian Blanket Flower
Bougainvillea
Clasping Coneflower
Pink Bulb
Purple Zinnia & Bumble Bee Friend
Carrot
Honey Bee Friend visiting a Buttercup
Florida Peach Blossom
Poblano Pepper Blossom
Garden Bean Blossom
Oncidium Sharry Baby Orchid
Bee Friend & Bromeliad
White Dahlia
Giant Pale Pink Zinnia
Dendrobium Orchid
Dendrobium Sonia Orchid
Light Pink Zinnia
Light Purple Dahlia
Carpenter Bee visiting the Candlestick Tree
Plains Coreopsis
Giant Pale Pink Zinnia. Magical!
Buttercup
Green Sweat Bee & Purple Water Lily
Laelia Orchid
Flaming Torch Bromeliad
Vanda Orchid
Flowering Ginger
Flaming Torch Bromeliad
Variegated Hibiscus
White Dendrobium Orchid
Red Lobster Claw Heliconia
Pickerelweed & Bee Friend
Spider Lily
Dragon Fruit Bloom & Bee Friend
Gold Coins, Dendrobium lindleyi Orchid
Zinnia’s Galore
Miniature Rose
Dragon Fruit Bloom
Pink Bulbs
White Farewell to Spring
Angel Trumpet Tree
Encyclia Cordigera Orchid
Yellow Daylily
Envy Zinnia
Coral & Purple Zinnia
Love Memory Fizz Dendrobium Orchid
Purple Zinnia
Orange Sunflower
Purple Zinnia
White Lilliput Zinnia
Pink Lilliput Zinnia
Purple Dendrobium Orchid
Pink, Purple & Red Gladiolus
Candytuft
White Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Purple Water Lily
Great Grandmother’s Easter Lily
Comfrey
Calendula
Red Cascade Weeping Bottlebrush
Encyclia bractescens Orchid
Amaryllis
Amaryllis
Star Jasmine, a single flower
Florida Blue Flag Iris
Florida Blue Flag Iris
Purple-Pink Toadflax
Purple Phalaenopsis Orchid
Key Lime Tree Blossom
White Zinnia
Miniature Phalaenopsis Orchid
The Sisters, Dracena
Purple Shamrocks
Purple Shamrocks
White African Iris
White African Iris
Phalaenopsis Orchid
Zygopetalum Advanced Australian Orchid
Red Christmas Cactus
Yellow Marigold
Miniature Rose
Golden Dewdrop or Duranta
Pink Christmas Cactus
Pink Christmas Cactus
Michihili Cabbage
Purple Hong Kong Orchid Tree
Cattleya Orchid
Ground Orchid
Rhyncholaelia digbyana, formerly Brassavola
Snake Plant, Mother-In-Law’s Tongue
Yellow Marigold
Yellow Marigold
Cattleya Orchid
Desert Rose
Key Lime Tree Blossom
Laelia Orchid
Alyssum
White Birds of Paradise
Glorious Daisy
Yellow Marigold
Dwarf Yellow or Maui Ixora
Blue My Mind Morning Glory
White Toadflax
Kalanchoe
Mexican Heather
Red Canna
Yellow Canna

2023

Yellow Gladiolus
Cattleya Orchid
Yellow Water Lily
Laelia Orchid
Lancaster Double Tiger Lily
Streamside Spider Lilies
Flaming Torch Bromeliad
White Blooming Ginger, Curcuma
Variegated Hibiscus
Dragon Fruit Cactus Bloom
Farewell to Spring
Black Beauty Crepe Myrtle
Brassavola Digbyana Orchid
Red Zinnia
Dragon Fruit Bloom
Gold Coins, Dendrobium Orchid
Bougainvillea Blooms
Miniature Rose
Epidendrum Orchid
Frangipani or Plumeria Tree. It’s a family favorite.
Pale Pink Larkspur
Easter Morning, these Easter Lilies opened
Miniature Phalaenopsis Orchid
Bachelors Button Wildflower
Tasty Nasturtium
Florida Blue Flag Iris
Clemson or Red Cluster Bottlebrush tree blossoms.
Mother-in-Law’s Tongue flowers
Christmas Cactus. These might look familiar at this time of year to northern growers, maybe a bit late for them.
White Cattleya Orchid. It gets brown water spots. Talk about fragile.
Water Lily blooming despite the cooler weather.
Purple Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bloom. We call this tree the Anniversary Tree. I can’t stop taking photos of it.
Cattleya Orchid
Purple Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bloom
Ground Orchid
Glorious Daisy
White Birds of Paradise
Bougainvillea
Purple Water Lily
Mexican Butterfly Weed and Bee Friend
Yellow Cosmos
Orange Marigold
Dendrobium Orchid
Buttercup
Orange Zinnia
Dendrobium Orchid
White Dendrobium Orchid
White Phalaenopsis Orchid
Yellow Marigold
Vanda Orchid
Red Gladiolus
Yellow Daylily
Purple Cattleya Orchid.
Dendrobium Orchid
Purple Painted Zinnia
White African Iris
Pink Bulbs
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea
Peace Lily
Canna, up on the mountain
Dendrobium Orchid
Pink Zinnia
Common White Toadflax
Sweet Potato
Purple Shamrocks
Cattleya Orchid